


Understanding

by Rizeru_chan



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: All of Seventeen - Freeform, Death, Friendship, OT13 - Freeform, Other, horror fic, warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 14:42:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 9,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6709066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rizeru_chan/pseuds/Rizeru_chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes friends want to have a little fun before saying goodbye.</p><p>-</p><p>I have to write a horror fic for creative writing and thus came this!!!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_December 16, 2012. _A group of fourteen friends turned into a group of thirteen physically.__

___July 23, 2013. _The lost friend's birthday was celebrated in her old home, 13 boys cried.__ _ _

_____December 16, 2013. _The group of thirteen visited the house again to mourn their loss.__ _ _ _ _

_______July 23, 2014. _They celebrated another birthday together.__ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________December 16, 2014. _More mourning.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________July 23, 2015. _Another celebration.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________December 16, 2015. _Bittersweet elation.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. Neglecting Priorities

The wind froze their fingers and cheeks sending chills down their spines as their footsteps crunched against the dead leaves that had fallen off the trees. Despite the bad weather, thirteen boys proceeded to walk and talk comfortably about the past years.

Three years ago their friend committed suicide because of the depression caused by her severe seasonal affective disorder. It was one of the coldest winters they had ever experienced in the town of Otto and it had hit her hard.

Her nickname was Maki and with the several punches to arms and chests, the thirteen boys learned to never use her real name. They never understood why she disliked it so much but they suspected it was because it was often too hard for normal people to pronounce.

The group of fourteen had formed over the course of fifteen years, two boys by the name of Wonwoo and Junhui were the first ones in the new neighborhood at three. They welcomed Maki with open arms when she moved in at the age of five and treated her like a little sister at the time despite the fact she was older, she would let them, though, they gave her blocks and offered her food when they wanted her attention and the five-year-old loved it.

Another friend named Joshua moved into Otto two years later when he was six, Junhui and Wonwoo were five, and Maki was seven. She was barely maturing at the time and began to take care of the three as if they were her, taller, younger brothers. That same year Jihoon moved into the neighborhood, same age as Junhui and Wonwoo. Maki was always approaching him and trying to break his protective shell, he was a quiet kid, but Maki broke down his cold exterior through compliments and stubbornness.

It had taken a year for Jihoon to willingly join the group without being dragged by Maki and another member of their group was added, a four-year-old interesting child that spoke of scientific things he didn't completely understand, like dinosaurs. Maki had found it endearing and forced the other four boys to play with the younger the same time she did, which was every day.

A summer later, Maki was eight and another boy born in the ninety-sixth year of the twentieth-century moved to the close-knit neighborhood to join the group of friends. Going by the name of Soonyoung he adapted quickly, even to Jihoon.

Not long after, maybe a few months coincidence, an aloof boy joined the neighborhood during the winter. It was the first sign Maki had of her seasonal affective disorder. She didn't immediately go and greet the boy, another month passed and spring had to come before she knocked on his door. The boy named Minghao always dressed in a beanie and black clothes, keeping up a tough guy act having come from a more risky part of the state. Maki had seen right through it once she laid her eyes on him.

The other boys never changed with the weather so they tried to do their best and make him feel welcome until Maki felt better, once she did, it was all fun and games. She got the five-year-old to act like the proper five-year-old he was supposed to be, crazy and outgoing.

Another bright boy named Seokmin became co-mood maker as soon as he moved in, asking Maki out during the summer at the age of six without knowing she was three years his senior had made them really close in no time at all. Not long after, the same week even, a very tall boy named Mingyu, sharing the same age as Minghao and Seokmin, came into town ready to make friends.

The group was finally complete the first day of winter in 2006, the poor twelve year old's SAD was acting up but she kept it to herself, they had heard one more person was moving into town and she didn't want to pass up the chance to meet him first thing like she did with Minghao.

Just a few weeks before, during the fall season, Maki did her best to show nothing bothered her too much, the seasonal days were unusually gloomy before winter, and it affected her but there had been two younger ones moving down the street and she knew fully well that if she left the 10 boys to go greet the newcomers by themselves they would scare them away before they could get settled in. She could only ever trust Jeonghan or Joshua but they were still a year younger than her and she learned during the school year that they mature slower so no chances could be taken.

One of the last to join was Seungkwan, one more mood maker to add to the group and everyone welcomed him happily. Hansol was especially ecstatic when there was a new youngest, Chan. Maki had babied them both, squishing their cheeks and even though Seungkwan was a little older than Hansol she babied him more because Hansol was surprisingly mature for his age, talking about privileges and rights.

The first winter day didn't go as planned. Maki, along with everyone else expected someone in the ninety-seven line, not another ninety-five baby. Even though it was unexpected Maki welcomed him and the parents. The parents seemed to love her but the new boy, Seungcheol, had given her glares whenever he could. She had thought that he had a seasonal affective disorder as well and wanted to talk to him about it alone. The other boys had given up on befriending Seungcheol the first week he stayed enclosed in his house, Maki had excused herself from feeling sick for the time being, feeling down because of both the weather and the fact the reason she couldn't go talk to him because of her mental disability, she didn't want to accidentally lash out on him when he just moved in.

The day she befriended him was a day with several clouds in the sky with small rays of light falling through. She had woken up late and was spotted right as she walked through the door but she held up a hand to stop them from coming too close. She had told them firmly that she just needed to talk to Seungcheol before he felt completely unwelcome.

She knocked on the door and the irritable eleven-year-old stared back at her, she saw a small light from behind the other and felt calmer. The parents had welcomed her and brought her in, that day she shared her disorder in hope he would relate and her hope was put to rest when he pulled out a light therapy box, he asked her if she wanted to use it but she refused, saying it was his in the first place.

Seungcheol was the only one that knew about her disorder and he had regretted not telling anyone, although he did promise her, she never got treatment or took anything of his that would help. He was able to go to therapy, the reason he moved to Otto was because of the great psychotherapists there but Maki wouldn't have known, he was prescribed medication and the light therapy box but whenever he offered it she would refuse immediately.

The disturbing part was how well she was at hiding it, she did stay in a lot during the winter but it was passed off as having a weak immune system. Hansol had figured out it wasn't the case later in life but could never find exactly what caused her to stay in. Even when she died Seungcheol never uttered a word and stayed silent about it.

After the fourteen spent six years altogether, Maki decided to take her life, unable to handle the winters that seemed to get colder and longer. The summers were cold at times as well and for her, it was all too unbearable.

So now the thirteen visited her house like they've been doing the two years before to mourn. The house was left untouched and even though they weren't allowed to, they brought sleeping bags and snacks to stay the night.

It wasn't the first time, they had done it when they visited during the summer for her birthday but either no one noticed, or no one seemed to mind. They just thought it would be fun to stay in the house with their self-proclaimed older sister as if she was still there.

They had made a pact, to never go into her room in respect to how she was when she was still alive, she wouldn't let them enter her room, and instead played with them in the living room on the second floor.

The pact was broken December 16, 2015.


	3. Deadly Weapons

Chan's eyes peeked open for a moment, he expected to see the ceiling fan but it was unusually farther than he remembered. Rubbing his eyes he made sure it wasn't a dream, he even pinched himself but the ceiling fan never came any lower, as a matter of fact, the fan was a hanging one instead of the usual close-built. As his eyes focused on the part attached to the ceiling he made out the small point formed by the five walls.

Springing up in the bed he kicked his feet in hopes to feel someone with him. Thankfully the tip of his big toe hit a patch of hair. The other seemed to have noticed as well because he shoved Chan's foot away harshly with a groan.

"Chan, go back to sleep, we have to wake up early tomorrow so we can get out without getting caught."

"Jeonghan, Jeonghan," he panicked, "Jeonghan we are in Maki's room get up!" He shoved the others, moving onto the next when they woke up enough to shoo him off. He made a second round and got them to the point they couldn't fall asleep again.

"Guys!" He yelled, "Guys wake up I'm not joking we're in Maki's room!" The second one to wake up was Wonwoo. He took a look around to mentally confirm the room. He turned to the side and helped wake up the people around him so Chan didn't have too much of a hard time.

"What are we doing in here?" Hansol's sleepy voice questioned, the last to wake up and not yet feeling all the panic.

"Okay, who's pulling the prank? We swore we would never come in here." Soonyoung said by the door. He was usually happy but there was irritation in his voice and glared at all of them, the door was locked and the amount of sadness they were all feeling kept the mood down.

"Wait guy's there's a note here," Mingyu called from the desk, most of them stared at him for a while, wondering what he was doing walking around but a second later they were huddling around the desk trying to read the note. At first, they tried to pass it around but Hansol offered to just read it.

"Children laugh, children play, children may want to sleep all day. Once they're older they are given the order to learn the alphabet before the sun shall set." He looked around, asking with his eyes whether they knew what it means or not. They all shook their heads but Wonwoo.

His lips moved to ask a question but no sound came out, the room would have filled with a unison of gasps but instead there was only the view of all their chests expanding. Wonwoo tried to request the letter again but the same events happened. He simply held out his hand and Hansol got the message.

Reading it over, he felt a familiar feeling well within his chest, nostalgia. The handwriting was one he had seen before, it was Maki's handwriting, the large letters, and round edges brought tears he had to fight back. He looked up and the look on his face announced to all of them that he knew what to do.

He started with Chan, taking him by the arm and dragging him towards the door and testing it out one more time before situating the youngest in front of the door. One by one, in alphabetical order he pushed them into a line. They looked at him questioningly when he moved back to Chan.

Pointing to himself firmly, he then jabbed his finger in the direction of the back then pushed his finger into Chan's chest. The youngest covered the spot for a moment, surprised by the amount of pressure but kept his eyes on Wonwoo's finger as it moved towards the door. The older tried to open the door one more time and when it didn't budge he repeated the motions until he was sure Chan understood.

Chan nodded and Wonwoo waited for him to repeat the motions, he even moved his mouth as if he was saying it. The right set of movements were repeated back to the original maker and Wonwoo finally made his way to the back. He gave a thumbs up and Chan focused his attention on the door. With shaky hands he opened the door, it was sliding he could feel the wheels drag across the ridge.

He closed his eyes, suddenly afraid of what he would see on the other side. The others must have been closing their eyes too because no one seemed to push him. He reached out into the second room when nothing made contact with his fingers he opened a single eye.

It wasn't anything to be afraid of, just another word. He turned around to tap Jeonghan's shoulder, when eyes opened he made a crossing motion with his hands and tried to say that there wasn't anything but there still wasn't any sound. Jeonghan seemed to understand and turned to tell Jihoon, who told Joshua, who told Junhui. Junhui told Hansol which moved to Mingyu, then Seokmin was told. Seokmin calmed Seungcheol which allowed him to relieve Seungkwan of his worries. Once Seungkwan passed it to Soonyoung Wonwoo got the message he succeeded in figuring out what to do and a smile spread on his face.

He got closer and closer to the exit, it seemed they were able to hear each other once they got through the door and he hurried his pace, even at a fast walk he didn't make it through the door before it shut.

Hands slammed against the paper lining, making shadows and handprints. There were indentations and creases but the paper never seemed to tear.

"Wonwoo, if this is your way of pulling a prank on us it's not funny!" Seungkwan yelled, Wonwoo never got the message, his hands continued to slam against the paper until a deafening tearing sound reached all of their ears and silence was upon them once again.

The once white paper sopped up a thick, red liquid around the area a knife punctured.

"Wonwoo?" Minghao called. The red liquid continued to spread until all the small windows were covered in it all.

The room was so silent they were able to hear the sound of a ring rolling towards them. They all searched the floor and when Seokmin found the object of interest he noticed the only decoration on it was an etching of Wonwoo's name on the inside.


	4. Eternal Breath

Jihoon was the first to get over the initial shock, Wonwoo was dead and there was nothing they could do about it, he knew himself that they needed to get over it so they could focus on how to get out. He let them soak in the shock a little longer while he looked around. He never really felt the tightness of the room until the moment he noticed what kind of room they were in.

Surrounded by white walls he looked up at the hooks for curtains and the moldy lime stains from where water used to run. The toilet had brown streaks of rust leading towards the sewers. Finally noticing he was in the bathtub he looked to see if anyone else recovered.

They were no longer looking at the door, they observed the room just a Jihoon did.

"You can hear me right?" All heads jerked towards him in an answer.

"Maybe there's another note somewhere, can anyone see it?" They looked around again, mumbling to each other about where it could be.

"Found it," Joshua held his hand up with the yellow post-it to catch their attention."

"If it were summer, there would be one bummer. The hot rays filled the days and there was only one way to escape it."

Junhui gasped when he remembered something and tapped the shoulders of all in reach. Maki loved summer and she would always drag them to the community pool down the street. He started to explain what they should do but like the room before, no sound came out. They looked at him with furrowed brows and pouts. He tried to figure out what motions he could make for them to understand.

Fingers pointed towards the faucets excessively, fingers wriggling in excitement. He'd been specifying for at least a minute before Chan turned the shower faucet, no water came out but Junhui nodded with exaggerated movements. He then moved both fingers towards the sink, Mingyu pushed the sink faucet up so that if the water bill were paid off there would be running water. As the final step, Junhui pushed the button to flush the toilet.

The door slid open and Soonyoung walked out, looked both ways and he was about to turn to tell them but the door closed. Seugncheol panicked and slammed his hands against the door like Wonwoo had done just moments earlier but it didn't budge. Junhui pushed and held down the button and the door slid open again. He waved his arm around and around to let everyone know they had to get through.

Once they all made it on the other side of the door Junhui sprinted his fastest, the fastest he's ever gone Seungkwan tried to hold the door open but it continued to slide, Junhui saw it in slow motion and with every inch the space decreased, the more his hope was lost.

His hand slammed against the paper and he pushed his fingers through the space between the door to the point his fingernails chipped, he took a step back from the pain and that was when he noticed the water pooling at his ankles.

Turning around, he watched the toilet, sink, and bathtub overflow with sudden running water, looking down the sink he tried to see what was clogging it but nothing seemed out of the ordinary, splashing over to the tub he found the same outcome. The toilet didn't have anything wrong with it either. The water raised to his waist and he floated over to the door to try to get it open again.

He searched for something to jam the paper with and create a hole but he couldn't find anything. Coming up for air he took a lungful before searching again.

Nothing.

He came up for air but there wasn't any. Frantically searching he felt himself blacking out. He willed himself to strive on, the medicine cabinet was empty, the lower cabinets were empty and there was nothing in the shower either.

His body wouldn't allow him to hold his breath any longer and lungfuls were filled with water before eyes closed and a body lowered to the tiles.

On the other side of the door, a flushing noise could be heard and stopped their panic, the sound of a ring spinning on its side followed the flush and Hansol observed the name.

'Junhui'


	5. Roll Again

The eleven of them recovered their labored breathing to something a little more calm before looking around again. This room had more space and it was all too familiar the loft.

The flat roof was framed with lights in every corner and wooden beams bordered them. They could all remember where the couch, television, and arranged sleeping spots were.

Joshua picked up his foot to check if the door was locked but it stuck to the carpet. Turning his torso he found everyone else in the same situation, it was almost as if they were board game pieces.

"There's a game, not too lame. It might be boring, don't let it keep you from scoring. How sad you might think it's not nice, but all you have to do is roll the dice." Jihoon's voice spoke was loud enough for all of them to hear but as he finished reciting the words he realized he should have mentioned he was going to read it. He tried to repeat the riddle but it was already too late.

Joshua was able to catch the last part and looked around for the dice. All they had to do was act like this was a board game right? They would always play when they were little, Maki had made it fun. He saw the plush dice on the ledge and pushed Chan's shoulder so he could grab it.

Before picking it up, Chan made sure Joshua was pointing towards the green plushies. He held them up to his face with a shrug. Joshua made a beckoning move with his fingers and the string connecting the two fuzzy objects were dropped in his hands and he let them fall through his fingers. The sides facing up showed a single dot, allowing Joshua to move as far as he would if he walked two steps.

Seungcheol was the next one to roll, a pair of threes. His two feet stayed completely still as everything moved forward at once. The dice went around, and one by one they made it closer to the door. Seokmin was the first one to make it through, he threw the dice to Joshua since he was in the back. Instead of landing in Joshua's hands they landed around Jihoon's neck perfectly. Jihoon tried to pass them to Joshua from where he was but they only fell to the ground with a total of five. Jihoon made it through and gave a sorry look to Joshua.

Seungkwan rolled a two on one dice and an a two on another, perfectly making it through the door.

Chan rolled a seven, making it to the other side of the door too.

Mingyu closed his eyes, even if he rolled one he would make it through the door. He too got snake eyes and helped Joshua with one move. Joshua tried to remain calm, as long as it helped.

Joshua made another snake eye roll and moved up two spaces, there was a glowing piece of floorboard and he was sent back five spaces. With a panicked expression, Joshua screamed for help but only the panicked expression got through.

Seungcheol made a denying motion when Joshua was about to throw their device of transportation. He made motions to let Joshua know he should just roll again. Joshua shrugged and tossed the dice close enough so another person would be able to get it. He rolled a four and a two and expected to move up but instead, Seungcheol moved closer and closer until he made it out of the door.

Minghao rolled a two and a five, making it through the door without any leftovers, he through an apologetic look towards Joshua but he got a shake of his head and the mouthing of the words, 'Don't worry' back.

Jeonghan tried to make the dice land on double sixes, he was only four away from the door so if he got both dices on the number, Joshua could go up enough to roll a two and make it. Sadly, the dice landed one and three, getting him through the door no problem.

Hansol was able to roll a twelve but he needed all of them to get through the door.

Soonyoung was one space away from the door if he rolled and even ten, both of them would make it through without any . The dice went up in the air and toppled onto the floor.

Two.

Once Soonyoung made it through the door it slid shut. Joshua tried to run towards and try to escape but his feet were still stuck to the floor. The ground began to shake and the sides of the room came closer to where he was.

On the other side of the door they could hear the sound of a lock and something dropping, they already knew what it was.

'Joshua'


	6. Shoot

They entered a room they had always gone in with caution, the master bedroom. It was large enough for all of them to spread their arms and walk around to find the next sticky note. The only time any of them went in here was to help Maki get supplies for her parents.

Looking around the large room, they could still imagine the bed, posts high, almost touching the roof and paint chipped off. They looked down the right and saw the connected bathroom, memories of Junhui's death cut deep in their minds, they could almost hear the sound of his drowning coming from the toilet.

They forced themselves to look away and search for the note. "Found it!" Seungkwan waited a while for all of them to see the blue note. Jihoon remembered his mistake in the room before and felt guilty for not letting all of them hear it.

"A mother that liked to knit kept her tools in a kit which stumbled across a loading gun allowing us to have more fun. In the game before fates were met have fun in the next game, Russian Roulette."

Suddenly balls of yarn sprouted from underneath the floorboards, pulled taught by some unknown force. They were held to the roof by knitting needles that protruded the ceiling causing some cracks to appear. Several others came shooting up in different directions.

They all lifted their arms and legs to dodge the needles and one by one the floorboards seemed to disappear from the damage made by the balls of yarn. Limbs got stuck in the net without injury but Jihoon couldn't help but feel like this whole thing was deja vu.

Maki, when he moved in, she would take Junhui's Nerf gun and lined them up by height then proceeded to tie them together so Jihoon wouldn't run away. She was stubborn with her efforts to get on his good side and told Jihoon that if he got shot, he would have to play with them.

He looked around and sure enough Mingyu was farthest from where he was, the room seemed to shift once the floorboards broke away. The walls spun and they all looked at the revolver aiming towards them. A bullet could be seen in one of the barrels, they held onto the yarn to relieve the fear of getting shot.

Jihoon's mind continued to work, there was more to remember.

Mingyu could be seen whimpering as he struggled to get out of the restraints so he could dodge the shot. The barrel turned once, twice, three times, four, five, once for every person in the room. When the trigger was pulled and nothing came out the knitting needles gave way to his weight and he fell through the floor.

They were all relieved Mingyu was safe then tensed up again when the gun was pointed to them. Jihoon noticed the number of barrel turns lessened with every person falling, when it got to Minghao he calculated where the bullet was and when the right loading chamber would be used, they would all make it.

A 6-bullet loading revolver, the bullet started in the chamber to the right side and it's been turning for every person in the room, once it got the Chan there would be two left and the bullet would turn into the spot right before when it was Jihoon's turn.

He calmed himself for a moment to make sure all his calculations were right, he went over it in his head several times but he knew he was missing something. All his friends made it through, and it was Chan's turn. Jihoon looked into Chan's eyes reassuringly the eighteen-year-old was biting his lip and flinched when it turned once. Jihoon wasn't usually the one people go to for comfort but Hansol had fallen through already.

He closed his eyes, shaking in the jungle of yarn. Then he felt himself falling, he made it. He was okay. But was Jihoon? The worry about Jihoon was greater than the fear of landing.

Jihoon calmly watched the barrel turn once with one left to spare but it turned again. His eyes widened. He had calculated it. Several times. He watched it, waiting for the thick bullet to shoot.

He finally remembered the rest of the memory.

He always had to play with them.

Clink. Cling

'Jihoon'


	7. Tempo and Melody

Hansol noticed they went up, they were in the attic, the only exit was on the floor, he had fallen on it when he got in the room. There was a small window to the left of him letting in the small amounts of moonlight and wondered how long it has been since they woke up.

It was hard to see but the sticky note was right next to his head. He peeled it off the wall carefully and yelled for everyone to come close. He felt his vocal chords vibrating together but his ears never heard the sound, was the room already silent? He tried to find other ways to catch their attention.

He tried to stand up, but his head hit the roof. His groan and the creaking floorboards went unheard as he made his way around the room. He looked around for someone and ended up touching a cold surface, flinching back he scrambled to get away. He looked at the moon for comfort. He took a breath. He looked at the note in his hand and remembered he had a phone.

He checked the battery percentage, twenty-seven percent was decent enough, the flashlight illuminated the whole room.

Where was everyone?

He shone it around, making sure. All he saw were webs and old boxes Maki's parents possibly forgot to bring. He tried to say that the joke wasn't funny but they wouldn't have heard him either way. He tried to look on the bright side, at least he didn't touch a monster.

He retraced the steps he took, even hitting his head on the low roof again. The light caught dust falling to the floor and flew around his footsteps.

Remembering the note he looked at his hand and read to himself, "Now up here time is ticking. There is no time and there is no looking. By now there must be something wrong but you'll be calm when you hear this song."

Reaching his hand out like before he touched the cold brass of a record player. Setting his phone down he faced the light up and shadows danced as he looked to see if it would turn on.

Surprisingly, music began to play immediately and he tried to figure out the song. The familiarity of the beat and the slow joining of the vocals he knew this song but the name wouldn't come to him. He remembered Maki had made him listen to it when they were younger after she saw the notebook he kept, full of lyrics. It was his favorite song for the longest of all time but he couldn't catch the name.

Noticing the fact he was able to hear music, he tried to see if he was able to speak. When he let out a small "ah" nothing came through and the music got louder. He turned the knob of the volume down but he must have turned it the wrong way because the music got even louder.

Covering one of his ears he twisted the volume the other way, the volume continued to increase. He covered both his ears, even without touching the machine the music blared, he could feel a fluid wet his palms. Letting go of one ear he observed the blood.

He shut his eyes as tight as they would go and soon as he remembered the song, everything went silent.

'Hansol'


	8. Afterimage

The eight of them watched another ring fall to the floor and chime against the concrete. The eight found themselves in the basement.

"Why didn't Hansol come down?" Seokmin picked up the ring and looked up at the stairs it rolled down.

"Maybe he couldn't," Seungkwan said, all the stress from his friends dying left and right made his mood irritable.

"Seungkwan it's okay to cry." Soonyoung comforted the now second to youngest. Seungkwan bit his lip, it was harder to hold in his sobs when someone encouraged him to let them go. He shook his head but the tears still fell.

"We're grown men, it's embarrassing to cry." He covered his face when a short sob was let out.

"Seungkwan, we lost a friend. If you don't grieve over them it'll just get worse. Just let it out."

"I'll let it out when we get out of here." He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth slowly. "Did anyone find the note yet?" He wiped his eyes before standing up. They all shook their heads.

"Got it!" Mingyu brought the note out from behind a wall.

"Every time you thought of the basement, you've probably thought you'd become a patient. A place so creepy and full of stink, but your fears take over the more you blink."

Seungcheol could see Soonyoung's body lurch forward as he laughed with no sound. He tapped the other's shoulder and bent his elbows while opening his palms to the ceiling above. Soonyoung wiped his eye and held up a hand, mouthing, 'Wait, wait'

He took a deep breath, trying to calm down from the memory he got. When he was 14, Maki still treated him like a child even though he was only two years younger. She had shown him a video of someone playing a game called SCP-173 and although it was creepy the first time he saw it, he found it interesting and asked if they could watch more videos. Apparently she had to watch the specific one over and over before she could have shown him and she screeched when he clicked on another.

Sighing to his own enjoyment he waved it off and twirled his finger around then to the door. Something in the corner was different but he thought it was just something in his eye. Rubbing it and blinking a few times he noticed what it was.

A creature, it's head barely dragging against the roof stood to stare at him, Seungcheol's hand waved in front of his face and he blinked again, the large alien-baby-bear looking creature got even closer. He ran to the door, did they even test it? It slid open easily, taking a step back he made sure it would stay open before dragging them all out of the room.

His eyes were watering and he couldn't keep them open any longer, he blinked and the monster was right up against his face, it was just a game, a stupid, childish video game that can't hurt him. He was just imagining it. He closed his eyes to wish it away.

It wasn't just another video game.

'Soonyoung'


	9. Nicks and More

Soonyoung's screams could be heard on the other side of the door. They tried to drag him out of the basement in the midst of his hallucinations but he ran across the room. He had shoved them all through the door and shut it on himself in the process. Seungkwan had protested but the door refused to give into his pulls.

Seungkwan couldn't control the tears, they freely streamed down his face and it caused the youngest to spring a leak after a while. Jeonghan comforted the two, holding in his own tears.

"It's okay, Soonyoung's ring didn't come out yet so-" There was a thump on his head and the sound of iron and wood meeting cut Jeonghan off.

"Come on guys, I found the note, the faster we get out of here the fewer people die, we have to keep going." Seungcheol's stern voice was broken but no one let his control go to waste. Seungkwan and Dino pulled themselves together.

"This door is not locked nor will it ever be, but don't step back because you'll get an injury. What's behind this door? It's a steep, steep hill, and if you want to get down you will need some skill."

Seungcheol opened the door he found the adhesive paper on. Behind the door was the staircase.

Seungcheol bent down and observed the danger, he felt the stairs, they were different than before, they used to be carpeted, no harm at all but now they were as black as coal and from the small cut he got from running his finger along the edge he figured out they were blades.

He showed his finger to everyone, making sure they all knew the danger. He got a crowd of nods. Minghao wanted to point out what he's been noticing but he forgot during the time he was worried about Seungkwan and Chan.

He moved up, tapping everyone's shoulders on the way so they would pay attention to what he was demonstrating. He touched the rail and smiled to himself when it wasn't made of blades. He made his way to hop on the rail without getting touched by the blades. He held his weight up so he wouldn't slide down. He pointed to them and the rail, before hopping off.

He saw the panicked look Mingyu had when he jumped, he was steady and made his way to the back, allowing them to go first. Seungcheol shook his head making gestures with his own hands. Minghao gave the oldest a stern look, it was a look he hasn't used in a long time, the last time was when he met Maki.

It didn't work on her but it did work on Seungcheol. The eldest sighed and nodded, Minghao's smile came back and he made his way to the back.

Chan looked worried again but Minghao shook his head, giving him a look.

He pointed to Chan then flashed ten fingers before flashing seven. The youngest understood, he was seventeen now, he could handle sliding down a railing, and Minghao was even older, he would be fine.

One by one they made it down, and finally, it was Minghao's turn. He remembered the first time Maki got him to do it. He was worried her parents would get mad and she had teased him about how he used to act tough only to be like this on the inside.

He gripped the railing, wondering how he would go. As he made his way down the railing began to hurt his hands and he understood. He smiled one last time, at least he was able to save everyone else.

Minghao didn't make it down the slide, only his name made it.

'Minghao'


	10. DIY Cakes

"You said the faster we get out the fewer people die!" Chan's tears came back and Mingyu had to hold him back from attacking Seungcheol.

"Chan, calm down, it won't help any of us if you end up hurting Seungcheol. Just calm down, what if this is all just a prank?-" Mingyu continued to speak but everything went quiet again. He looked around, did someone read the note already? He looked but everyone else was confused as well.

They were in the kitchen, they all surrounded the wooden counter, the note was in the center. " A small meal can be used to seal a deal but if the food isn't good the deal ends as it would be. If you can cook take a look at the book and recipe."

Jeonghan was the first to move. He opened the pantry, he expected it to be empty and the try was worth it, there was a box of cake mix and he pulled it out, shook it next to his head and set it on the counter.

He pointed towards Mingyu, the fridge, then the picture of eggs on the box. He pointed to Seungcheol and the cabinet holding the bowls. He pointed to the picture of eggs so Seungkwan could do something and he beckoned Seokmin to come closer so he could open the bag. While everyone was busy, he went over to Chan and wiped his tears like a mother would his child.

Chan looked away in shame, Jeonghan gave a light pat on Chan's back before walking back over to the kitchen. Chan watched as Jeonghan pretended to set the oven and decided he wouldn't just watch them all.

He searched for a pan and foil to make sure the cake wouldn't stick, even if they weren't really making a cake the manner brought him tranquillity.

The batter was poured in and Jeonghan made his way to putting it into the oven. He remembered when Maki told him she made it from scratch for everyone's birthday, it was Jeonghan's favorite cake. Despite the fact he figured out he could make the same one, psychologically he found Maki's cakes better than any other.

The oven was hot when he opened it, he leaned in closer and sure enough, it began to become unbearable. He quickly set the batter in the oven and backed away. His shirt caught on the corner of the oven and began to burn, he turned the gas knobs as he panicked to open the oven door again. The stovetop lit up and Jeonghan's shirt effectively began to burn.

He ran over to the sink, the water was working before, right? He turned on the sink but no water came out. He threw his shirt off but his pants caught on fire, along with the wooden counter, and the cabinets. The gas leaking from before created even a bigger flame.

Slowly, the flamed engulfed the entire kitchen.

'Jeonghan'


	11. I Believe

Chan screamed when he saw the paper getting darker, Seungcheol and Mingyu held the younger back, Seungkwan and Seokmin watched sullenly.

"We could have helped him! We could have tried!" Chan kneeled to the floor, the only light in the dead eyes were reflections from the fire. He picked up the ring that rolled between his legs, pressing his lips to a thin line when he saw Jeonghan's name before slipping it on. The cool metal would have made him flinch if he was willing to feel anything.

"Chan, there was a good chance you would have burned down with him. You saw how fast the flames grew. There's only one more room after this, you're the youngest here, you still have so much life ahead of you, you can't die." Seokmin appeared next to him patting his back just like Jeonghan had before.

"So many of our friends died, how do you know we can even make it out of this place alive? We're all going to die at one point in this house, let's just give up now."

"That's no way to talk, think about it, this is Maki's house, she probably wants us to be happy. This is some weirdly connected dream, I heard Hansol talking about it one day, it could happen. Something connected to being able to control your dreams, he brought it up to me a while ago. You remember watching Inception right? Hansol told me he thought Maki was able to lucid dream and became depressed because the real world was all too boring."

Seungcheol bit his lip, he wanted to prove the statement wrong but Chan seemed to calm down. He saw the look Seokmin gave him and shook his head.

"Hey, isn't the dining room a lot bigger than before?" Seokmin changed the topic and they all looked up at the roof that seemed to extend into infinity.

"Wasn't there a chandelier?" Mingyu pointed up and looked to the others for reassurance.

"Yeah, there..." A black dot slowly got bigger and wider the longer he looked up. When it was close enough to make out a figure he slapped their shoulders. "Where's the door?"

Seungcheol's head whipped around, looking for the exit. He immediately grabbed Chan, who seemed to be in shock and denial, not another one. He hoped that whoever was doing this, they wouldn't take any more of his friends.

"We didn't read a note, and the room didn't go silent, Chan if you don't run you'll hold people back!" Seungcheol tugged the seventeen-year old's arm and brought him through the exit. He turned and pulled Seungkwan in as well. Seokmin was about to make it out the door but a hysterically large chandelier came crashing down on top of him. Floorboard after floorboard split and the sound of bones being crushed could be heard.

Mingyu ran back to get the ring left on the floor. It shone through the dust and caught his eye on his way but he hadn't realized till he was about to exit. Every time, the rings would roll or be right in front of them, why not Seokmin's? He got closer and closer, he knew that if the chandelier fell, the rest of the roof was close behind.

He swiftly got the ring in his palm and sprinted back to the door only to see it closed. He could make out the line of the three trying to pry the door open and smiled despite knowing it was over. Looking up, he saw the roof crumbling down and made himself closest to the door before getting even closer to the ground, more like part of it.

When the roof came down, Mingyu caught a glimpse of the note they failed to find.

"Dreams of flying were held so dear, why don't we hang from the chandelier?"

Mingyu could faintly hear the scoldings coming from his mother along with Maki's.

With one last effort, he flicked the two rings towards the door.

'Seokmin' 'Mingyu'


	12. Names

The three looked at each other, they were back in the room they were supposed to be the whole time, the room they all fell asleep in. Chan walked up to the couch and touched the slightly rough fabric if this was a dream-if this was a nightmare, why hadn't they woken up already?

"Chan, this is the last room, you're going to survive. It's just a dream."

"Won't dying wake me up? I want to wake up." His fingers left the fabric slowly, finger by finger as he turned towards the coffee table, two sticky notes awaited them, one blank, another had a riddle on it.

"I don't want to read it, I don't want to do anything anymore."

He saw Seungkwan's hand grab the note with the riddle. "It's been nice to see you all again but I'm sad I could only take ten, even if they knew me best. If you're confused think back, yes, if you're here you've failed the test. You may have thought I've killed with glee but I just wanted to meet again you see. On each ring there is one name, they'll all be back but not the same. Thank you for losing in a three-way tie, now it is time to say goodbye. But here's the chance, one last trick, what was the thing that made me tick?"

Seungcheol mumbled something, Chan whipped his head up when he heard it.

"We can hear you." Seungkwan voiced.

"I can hear you too, but don't try and answer the question yet. If one of us guesses it then only one of us will die, according to the riddle, when you die, you meet Maki, so we all have to do this at the same time okay?" The eldest looked at both of them in the eye, they nodded.

There was only one thing that made Maki turn into a boiling cup of water, Seungkwan got the most water poured onto him when he moved in.

"Oh, I know what it is!" Seungkwan looked around the room for a pen. When he found something to mark the paper he wrote down, 'Real name' and looked to Chan and Seungcheol, hoping they would understand. Chan nodded excitedly.

The wind began to pick up around the house, dirt and stones flew against the windows, some of them broke and others put up a fight before giving way.

"On three, we say it okay?" Seungkwan looked at all of them.

"One," The paper doors were cut and busted by the gushes of wind. Their hair flew around, they could feel their parts becoming disoriented.

"Two." The ground began to shake Seungkwan's eyes flickered towards a tree becoming loose of its roots as if a child were picking up a flower from a grass field.

"Three." They looked at each other one more time before letting out the final answer to the clue.

"Uchimaki."

The tree crashed into the living room, knocking out all of them right away.

'Seungkwan' 'Seungcheol' 'Chan'


	13. Gotcha

Seungkwan woke up from a punch to the arm. Groaning he turned away from the pain but remembered it's his arm and it's attached to him. "Oww... what?" He opened and eye and bright hazel eyes stared back. He sprung up and wiped his eyes.

"Maki?" He blinked and focused on the other twelve in the room, they were all sitting in a circle and they seemed to be waiting for him.

"Took you long enough to wake up, I can't believe I had to make you say my real name to get you here." Her straight black hair whipped his face as she turned and moved back towards the circle, patting the spot next to her she silently invited him over.

"Was that all just a dream?" Laughs erupted from everyone and he whined, asking why they laughed at him.

"That's what everyone said when they get here." Maki leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, Seungkwan noticed they were in her room again. "Even me."

"So this is..." He looked at everyone, they were all fine. Wonwoo, Jun, Joshua, Jihoon, Hansol, Soonyoung, Minghao, Jeonghan, Seokmin, Mingyu, Chan, and Seungcheol all smiled at him.

"This is where I say goodbye. It's kind of sad really, I'm sorry I could only get you here by killing you, I promise no harm is made to your real bodies but at least I didn't just send the house crashing down."

"You wanted to test how much we really missed you," Wonwoo said. She pointed to him with a wink.

"Partially, I wanted to have fun one more time before I really left you guys. Stay sharp Wonwoo."

"Why-how is this goodbye?" Chan asked innocently. She crawled over and kissed the top of his head like a mother.

"You've grown a lot Chan, find a good wife okay? Don't date until you're ready. This is goodbye because I won't be here anymore, you guys can't come here anymore either." She looked around the circle at all of them. "I miss you guys, a lot, but apparently my soul is leaving soon. I've felt myself coming and going for a while, I spent a whole year setting up that whole maze thing." She gestured to the door and referred to the rest of the house.

"So someone is moving in?"

"Yes Jihoon, all this stuff makes you more keen right? Anyway, someone is moving in, they've visited before and they've been coming more often. They'll be moving in soon and that's when I'll be gone and that's why you guys can't just be barging in here."

"Do you know who they are?" Joshua sat back and watched her look around at everything in her room. Now that it was illuminated they could see the decorations on the wall and the color of all the frames and curtains.

"Two will be born, two will move here. No, I'm not telling you their names, but I know you guys will like them."

"We miss you." Mingyu randomly brought up. She moved over to the tall boy and squished his cheeks.

"I miss you guys too, but now we get to say goodbye, do you have any questions before I wake you guys up?"

"Do you have to wake us up?" Soonyoung and Seokmin spoke up at the same time.

"Yes, you guys are still alive and those people moving in don't want to find thirteen dead bodies in their new house do they?" She ruffled both heads of hair.

"What were the rings about?"

"I expected that question from you Hansol, never change your ability to analyze things okay? You too Jihoon. They're parting gifts, there's one for all of you and you can wear them forever and ever. It's just another accessory really, you don't have to-"

"We'll wear them forever. We'll wear them forever, right guys?" Seungcheol looked at all of them, all their heads bobbed in a nod.

"Seungcheol, stay strong for them, I'm counting on you okay?"

"Why don't you like your name?" Junhui opened his arms, awaiting his hug.

"It's too long and it sounds choppy. It's just a preference really." She rubbed his back.

"Why did you die?" Jeonghan asked.

"Oh, Jeonghan, I'm officially making you the mother of the group when I'm gone, it's not because of your long hair either, I just think you like babying the kids. Take care of them for me alright?"

Her eyes flashed to Seungcheol for a brief moment before admitting the reason for her suicidal actions. "I had a mental disorder where my mood would change depending on the weather, technically I did get sick in the winter but it wasn't colds or cases of flu, I was just depressed and never got treatment. When summer was cold I couldn't take it anymore and... yeah."

"Can we have one last group hug?"

"Minghao, protect them with Seungcheol okay? I know you're a softie but you have some hard surfaces and I want you to use them for when the others are in trouble or acting out okay? And c'mere guys."

The fourteen of them gathered Maki in the middle. Laughter was the last thing all of them heard before waking up.


End file.
